Thief, Mage and a Vampire
by EnharmonicAngel
Summary: The Dragonborn, Sonja Golden-Hilt, and her sister, Eileen Desert-Born, thought that Skyrim was finally safe when Sonja defeated Alduin a year ago. Well...They were wrong. Except now, it's not an immensely powerful dragon that's threatening the province; it's vampires. Rated for violence and, later on, romance. Eventual OC/Gunmar and (different) OC/Knight-Paladin Gelebor.
1. Ch 1 - Vampires

_**Whoa. How long's it been since I've posted anything on this site? Sorry about the hiatus, but I'm kind of lazy, busy and I have immense writer's block.**_

_**Decided to try out a new fandom other than Pokemon. By the way, don't read my old fanfics. They are terrible, let me tell you.**_

_**Here, have a long Skyrim fanfic. OC/Gunmar and OC/Knight-Paladin Gelebor in the far future. No, the OC is not a Mary Sue. It's two different OC's.**_

_**Disclaimer: If you think that I own Skyrim, then you're crazy.**_

* * *

**Sonja's POV**

.-.

"...And that is why you do _not_ tell a vampire that he or she looks old," I told Adrianne Avenicci, wrapping up my story. My Imperial friend smiled and shook her head as she continued to work at her forge...Well, finish up her work, anyway. It was about eight-thirty; working hours had already ended.

"I have a message for Sonja Golden-Hilt!" someone called rather suddenly. Both of us glanced up as a courier sprinted into Whiterun.

"That would be me," I replied, and walked over to him. He shuffled through his bag.

"Hn...I had it in here...Ah! From a woman named Eileen Desert-Born. Looks like that's it. Gotta go!"

The man handed me a letter and dashed off as I pondered over what my younger sister had to say. I opened the letter.

_Sonja,_

_How long has it been, a month? You should write to me more often. It's how I know you're not dead yet._

_Anyway, I've enjoyed the College of Winterhold—so far, at least. There's this Thalmor agent who really should be taught a lesson in manners. His name is Ancano. He says he's just here to oversee things, but I suspect otherwise._

_Most of the others are nice. The other apprentices—they are surprisingly few—include a Dunmer by the name of Brelyna Maryon, a Nord named Onmund and a Khajiit called J'zargo. Brelyna's rather introverted, Onmund's quite nice and J'zargo's got a big ego, but they're all good friends._

_I'm about to leave for an old fort called Fellglow Keep. Apparently some mage stole a few books that I need from the College and, lucky me, I have to retrieve them. Some time ago, we explored this Nordic ruin called Saarthal. You know, city built by Ysgramor and all that. You probably have all of Skyrim's history memorized by now._

_How are things going for you, big sister? Must be boring, holed up in Whiterun. Why're you still there, anyway? I'm sure there are plenty of things for you to do elsewhere in Skyrim other than work at Eorlund Gray-Mane's or Adrianne's forge. Or maybe the Companions have another job for their Harbinger. They always do. Farkas seems to enjoy hunting dragons with you._

_So I went against your wishes and joined the Stormcloak rebellion. Look, I won't deny that Ulfric Stormcloak is power-hungry and racist, but something has to be done about the damn Thalmor!_

_Well, I have to prepare, so I'll end this letter here. Take care of yourself, Sonja._

—_Eileen_

I sighed at my sister. What was she thinking, joining the Stormcloaks?

I, myself, was neutral in the war, as I stood with Jarl Balgruuf. Eileen was clearly a different story. I couldn't blame her, as I thought that all provinces would be better off independent (the Empire's been slowly crumbling since the end of the Septim dynasty; nobody can deny that.), but with the possibility of the Aldmeri Dominion attacking and/or dominating Tamriel, it would probably be best if we were united.

A sudden yell tore me away from my thoughts. Three vampires and two of the oddest-looking dogs I had ever seen ran in through Whiterun's gates.

Adrianne and I both got our weapons out, but the Whiterun guards and the two Alik'r warriors that, for some reason, stood in front of the door every day had already killed them. The two of us glanced at each other and shrugged, sheathing our weapons.

"What was that all about?" I asked one of the guards.

"Vampires. They've been becoming a real threat. I hear a new order has started up to stop them—The Dawnguard," he replied. I raised an eyebrow.

"Dawnguard?" I repeated. "Where exactly can one find these...Dawnguard?"

"They're holed up in a fort over in the Rift, in a place called Dayspring Canyon—At least, that's what I've been told," another one told me.

"Yeah, that's it. Do you have a map?" the first one asked. I nodded and handed it to him. "Here." He circled an area with a piece of charcoal and handed the map back to me.

"Thanks. I'll be sure to check this out," I said to both of them. They saluted and returned to their posts.

"Heading over to the Rift, are you?" Adrianne asked me. I nodded. "Hm...Well. If there really _is_ a vampire problem, and these Dawnguard really _are_ trying to stop it, then I think they could use the Dragonborn's help."

I nodded again. "I'll head for the Rift tomorrow, then—But first, I'm going to Winterhold." Eileen had to know about this.

"Good luck, Sonja. Stay safe," Adrianne said, turning back to her forge.

I walked over to Breezehome to rest for the night. "Hello, my Thane," Lydia greeted as I walked in. I nodded in reply and scarfed down a quick apple before jogging up the stairs to my bedroom.

I looked in the mirror before I went to bed. My reflection was one of the oddest things I'd ever seen.

A Nord woman with Nordic facial features, yes. Straight hair coming to a halt an inch below my shoulders. About six feet and three inches tall. All quite normal.

But the strange thing was the coloring. Not my tan skin; my constant work in the sun accounted for that. My eyes and hair. My eyes were completely black, with no whites. The same went for my hair; dark, shiny and black. It was one of the things that always puzzled me. My parents could never figure out why I was so strangely colored, and neither could my sister, or even my ancestress, Gormlaith Golden-Hilt, when I'd met her in Sovngarde, or her brother, Hakon One-Eye.

I sighed and washed my face before lying down in my suddenly very-welcoming bed and falling asleep.

.-.

I jumped out of bed the next morning when I realized that it was already nine o'clock.

"Lydia, I'm going to Winterhold. Can you help me pack?" I called as I ate a quick loaf of bread and grabbed my set of Dragonscale armor (minus the helmet. They're uncomfortable.) and Eileen's set of Dragonplate armor that I'd forged for her. No doubt she'd be in her mage robes when I got to her, and those were useless in combat. In my experience, anyway—and I wasn't a mage, so perhaps I wasn't the best person to talk to about that.

"Alright. I'm coming," she replied. The Nord walked down the stairs. "Are you going on foot, horse or by carriage?"

"Taking a carriage. This can't wait."

"Then I'd suggest you put a couple loaves of bread in that pack. That way you'll have food until you get to an inn. Do you have your Dragonbone greatsword?"

"I always have it with me."

"How about the bow? Do you have arrows?"

"It's all here, Lydia," I said. "Don't worry; I'll be fine."

"Potions? Do you have your potions and frostbite venom? And don't forget Eileen's paralysis poison that she made for you—"

"Lydia, I'll be fine," I insisted, laughing. She sighed.

"I know, but...Well...You never know," she said. "Be careful, okay?"

I glanced over my shoulder on my way out, and smiled. "Lydia, when am I ever not careful?"

.-.

Ironically, a dragon attacked the carriage about halfway to Winterhold, but I was able to deal with it...Well, the driver and horse were both terrified and were jumpy for the rest of the journey. But other than the event just described, the carriage ride was quite boring.

When I arrived at Winterhold, I was greeted by the Jarl, who told me that Eileen was up in the College.

I sighed as I crossed the bridge to the large building. The place, admittedly, unsettled me.

"I'm looking for Eileen Desert-Born," I said to the Altmer standing in front of the gates.

"Desert-Born? The new apprentice?" she replied.

"Yeah. Is she here? The Jarl said she was, so I'm going to assume..."

"Sorry, but only College members can enter the gates," she said. I sighed.

"Look, my sister's in there, and I need to talk to her. I'm the Dragonborn," I explained. The tall elf—but not as tall as me, I noted in amusement—raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, really, now?" she asked, and crossed her arms. "Prove it."

I rolled my eyes, tilted my head so that I was looking at the cloudy sky and Shouted, _"YOL TOOR SHUL!"_ Fire shot out, causing the mage to jump back.

"I'll be right back," she assured, and hurried off.

A few moments later she reappeared with a certain Nord woman in tow.

Eileen had always looked more Nordic than I. Her red hair was wavy and, like mine, fell just below her shoulders. Her eyes were a light shade of green and had actually whites, like all other Nords except me.

"Sonja! What're you doing here?" she exclaimed. I smiled.

"Actually, I need your help. I've got your armor right here," I replied, holding up the armor set made of dragon bones. It actually wasn't as heavy as you'd think; if a dragon's bones _were_ that heavy, it wouldn't be able to fly. The Altmer next to her frowned.

"She's actually needed here at the College, so I'm afraid you'll have to—"

"It's important. Skyrim is in danger," I interrupted. Eileen's eyes widened.

"Faralda, hush. What's happened?" my younger sister asked.

"Seems Skyrim's got a vampire problem. A big one," I replied. "This new order—the Dawnguard—have started up to stop them. They're in an old fort, Fort Dawnguard, in the Rift. An area called Dayspring Canyon."

The High Elf, Faralda, said, "I'm sorry, but your sister is needed here."

"_Skyrim_ is in _danger,"_ I repeated. "The vampires have been getting stronger and bolder. Three of them attacked Whiterun. I've heard that there's an entire _clan_ of them."

"Faralda, Sonja's right. Skyrim comes before the College," Eileen said, nodding. Faralda frowned.

"But you can't just leave the College because of some vampires! _Someone_ has to find the Staff of Magnus!"

"Then get Onmund, Brelyna or J'zargo to go to Mzulft. I need to head to the Rift," my sister replied stubbornly.

"The Rift...Mzulft is in Eastmarch, on the road to the Rift. You can stop there on your way down south."

Eileen glanced at me, a questioning look in her eyes. I sighed and nodded; the College clearly wasn't going to let Eileen go without finding this...Staff of Magnus, whatever is was.

"Alright. We'll stop by the ruins of Mzulft on our way and have a look around. But I have to leave, now. Tell the others," Eileen said, and walked away. I followed.

We stopped by the Frozen Hearth, the city's inn, so that Eileen could change into her dragonplate armor set. "I hadn't realized how much I'd missed my armor until just now," she'd told me, grinning.

And so, the two of us set off for the ruins of Mzulft. From the name, I could tell that it was a Dwemer ruin.

Damn it.

I _hate_ Dwemer ruins.


	2. Ch 2 - Dawnguard

_**Ohai. Have a chapter.**_

_**Spell check hates most Skyrim's words. It also hates when I write spell check as spellcheck.**_

_**Disclaimer: I only own Sonja and Eileen—**_

* * *

_**Sonja's POV**_

.-.

If it were me in Eileen's dragonbone boots, I would've just skipped Mzulft and headed straight to Fort Dawnguard. But, then again, I wasn't a mage. That was my father. He's the one who taught Eileen most of what she knew about magic.

So instead of taking a carriage to Riften and then traveling on foot to Fort Dawnguard, we had to travel on foot from Winterhold to Mzulft. The entire walk took about a week, and we were only halfway to Dayspring Canyon.

Have I mentioned that I'm impatient?

Not to mention until we got to the springs of Eastmarch, Eileen kept complaining about the cold the entire way. Some Nord she is!

And then when we finally _did_ arrive at the Dwemer ruin, a dragon attacked us, so I had to deal with that, too.

So there we were, standing in front of the large, Dwarven doors that were the entrance to the ruin.

"Look. We go in, find whatever it is in Meridia's name you're looking for, and we get out. Okay?" I snapped. Eileen sighed.

"That's the general plan, I guess," she said. With that, the two of us walked in...To see a dying mage bracing himself against the wall.

"Eileen! Get a healing spell ready!" I shouted in alarm, but it was clearly too late—the man had lost far too much blood to be able to save him.

"Crystal...Stolen...Get...To the Oculory..." he murmured. He died seconds later.

Eileen let out a ragged exhale. For a healing woman of twenty-three, she didn't seem to handle death very well. Of course, me being twenty-six and the Dragonborn, I was used to such things, but whatever.

I tried the door to the ruin. "Locked. Guess we'll have to just go to Fort Dawnguard, then," I said, and turned, but Eileen fished through the man's pockets and found a key.

"No. We're going to get to this...'Oculory', and we're going to find the Staff of Magnus. Or at least where it is, if it isn't here," she said. I sighed. When she had that stubborn tone, there was no changing her mind.

Damn it.

.-.

The entire exploration of the ruin took four days. It probably would've taken two if there weren't _so many Falmer._ You have no _idea_ how much I hate the Falmer.

We got overwhelmed towards the end, but thanks to Eileen and her Beast Blood—did I mention that she's a werewolf?—we made it out okay.

And then, there was the Oculory. Some arrogant Imperial man started yelling at us, but then he calmed down when we showed him that he had the crystal that the mage at the entrance was talking about, and then he made us solve some Dwemer puzzle.

Of course, the puzzle was ridiculously complicated, and that man offered no help whatsoever, so it took a good hour to solve it. And _then_ the puzzle showed us a map that the Imperial got all excited, and then angry about and he started yelling at us again (I think he might have been bipolar or something.), until he finally told us that the Staff of Magnus, or whatever it was called, was at Labyrinthian. Thankfully, Eileen said that _that_ ruin could wait until after Fort Dawnguard.

On our way out, Eileen suddenly said that a member of the Psijic Order had just contacted her, whatever that was. When I asked, she told me that it was nothing that I needed to worry about, so we moved on.

.-.

The rest of the journey took about a week. When we finally _did_ get to the area that the guard had circled on my map, it took about fifteen minutes for us to find Dayspring Canyon, because the entrance was a not-so-noticeable cave-looking opening in the mountain, with the only signs of human life being two braziers.

Walking in, Eileen and I saw one of the most breathtaking sights imaginable.

A large, glacial waterfall cascaded from the mountains into a lake. Through a small wooded area, one could see through the trees what we were looking for; Fort Dawnguard.

"Oh! Hello, there. I suppose you're looking to join the Dawnguard, too?" a voice asked. My sister and I turned to see a fair-haired Nord man who couldn't be any older than Eileen. Twenty, maybe? "To be honest, I'm kind of nervous. Do you mind if I walk up to the fort with you two? My name's Agmaer, by the way."

I smiled. He reminded me of Erik, a young man that I'd met in Rorikstead.

"My name's Sonja Golden-Hilt. This is my sister, Eileen Desert-Born, and we'd love to accompany you to the fort," I greeted. The poor boy was taken aback.

"Golden-Hilt? You're the _Dragonborn?"_ he asked. "I'll bet you've fought hundreds of vampires! I actually haven't fought any, but I'm going to help out in any way I can."

Yep. This one could've been Erik's brother.

The three of us started up the long path. Agmaer still seemed a little jolted that he was walking next to the Dragonborn and, out of nervousness, he just kept talking and talking and _talking._ But it wasn't annoying, not really. After all, he was probably from a small village and the weirdest thing he'd ever seen was likely to be a mutated carrot.

"I haven't fought much, really. I've just used my pa's war axe to fend off wolves. I killed a bear, once, but my older brother was there to help me."

"You've a brother? Why isn't he here with you?" Eileen asked curiously. Agmaer shrugged.

"He ran off to join the Stormcloaks," he replied. I sighed.

"Seems everyone has," I muttered.

We all came to a halt as we approached the fortress.

"Wow..." Eileen murmured.

"Hah...A lot bigger than I expected," Agmaer said sheepishly. All three of us then proceeded to the large front door, where a Breton man was leaning against the wall.

"Come to join the Dawnguard, eh?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow. "What're your names, then?" I raised my chin a little.

"My name is Sonja Golden-Hilt of Whiterun. This is my sister, Eileen Desert-Born of Elsweyr, and our friend, Agmaer of...?"

"Ivarstead," he clarified. I nodded.

"Agmaer of Ivarstead. Yes, we have come to join the Dawnguard," I finished. The man whistled and turned to Eileen.

"Does your sister always introduce herself so formally?" he asked. The redheaded Nord woman sighed.

"Only to soldiers, Jarls or any other type of leader. She's the Dragonborn," she replied, used to this type of situation. The Breton's eyebrows shot into his hairline.

"The Dragonborn? We have the _Dragonborn_ on our side? Hah! The Volkihar don't stand a chance!" he exclaimed, and clapped a hand on my shoulder. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Celann. Isran, our leader, is inside."

The three of us nodded and entered the fortress, only to see a Redguard and a Nord arguing.

The Redguard was very tall for...A Redguard. His skin and hair were very dark in contrast to his light eyes. The Nord looked like a typical Nord in mage robes; pale skin, brown hair, beard...All to be expected of a Nord male, except he was oddly short.

"...Dead, all of them! Even Keeper Carcette!"

"That's not my problem, Tolan."

I cleared my throat. "'Scuse me," I began, "the three of us are here to join the Dawnguard."

The two of them turned and both had questioning looks on their faces. It was then that I realized just how odd our trio must have appeared; Eileen in her dragonbone armor with a matching sword and shield at her belt; me in all of my miscolored glory, wearing dragonscale armor with a dragonbone bow on my back; and poor Agmaer, who was wearing simple clothes and armed with nothing but his axe.

"Is that so?" the Redguard asked. I nodded. "I am Isran, leader of the Dawnguard. And who might you be?"

"Should I include the titles?" I asked Eileen, who shrugged.

"I will. Impressions with leaders _are_ important. Stormcloak made me use _my_ titles when introducing myself to him," she replied. I also shrugged. Seemed like a valid answer.

"My name is Sonja Golden-Hilt, Dovahkiin, Harbinger of the Companions, vanquisher of Alduin, destroyer of the Dark Brotherhood, Thane of Whiterun, Markarth, Dawnstar, Falkreath and Solitude." I turned to Eileen, who nodded.

"I am Eileen Desert-Born, Thane of Winterhold and Windhelm, supporter of the Stormcloak Rebellion, apprentice at the College of Winterhold," she said. Somehow, her voice sounded more regal and warrior-like than mine, even though she had less accomplishments than me.

"My name's Agmaer, and I'm from Ivarstead," our fair-haired friend said.

"Friend of the Dragonborn," I threw in casually. Poor boy.

"The _Dragonborn?"_ the Nord man in mage robes asked.

"Hmph. If you really are so accomplished, then you can help us with something. Go on, Tolan, tell them about...Dimhollow, was it?" Isran said.

The Nord—Tolan—turned to me and said, "The vampires have been looking for something in a place called Dimhollow Crypt. Here, I'll mark it on your map." I handed it to him, and he did so. "I'll come with you, in case you need help—"

"I don't think that's such a great idea, Tolan," Isran cut in.

"I'll be fine," Tolan replied. "And I will meet you at Dimhollow."

I was about to say something against it, but the Nord man left. Isran sighed and turned to look at Agmaer.

"Not you, boy. You don't even own any armor, do you?" he asked. Agmaer shook his head.

"I'd be willing to forge—" I began, but the Redguard ignored me.

"Alright, then. Later on, we'll have a look around, find some Dawnguard armor that'll fit you. For now...How are you with weapons?"

"W-well, I mostly just use my Pa's axe to fend off wolves," the Nord replied. Isran actually laughed at that.

"Come here, boy. We'll get you started with a crossbow. And you two—" he glared sharply at us. "shouldn't you be going?"

Eileen and I quickly left. Outside, I looked at my map.

"Looks like Dimhollow's south of Dawnstar. We can walk to Riften and take a carriage from there," I began, "and then travel south to the crypt."

On our way out of the fortress, we saw an Orc firing some sort of weapon at a tree stump.

"Excuse me, sir, but what weapon is that?" Eileen asked in awe. The Orc glanced at the item in his hands.

"This? It's a crossbow, the Dawnguard's specialty weapon," he replied. "Here. I have an extra one and some bolts if you'd like to try it out." He handed the things to her. "My name's Durak."

Eileen examined the crossbow. "Thank you, Durak. I'm Eileen Desert-Born, and this is my sister, Sonja Golden-Hilt," she said. I grinned.

"Hah! Finally taking up archery, are you, Eileen?" I asked, elbowing her. She never was one who liked archery. That was always me. Our mother taught me how to use a bow, while our father taught Eileen most of what she knows about magic. And our eccentric Uncle Kjell from Markarth taught me about thievery, but Eileen always disapproved of him.

Durak went back to practicing with his crossbow, and Eileen and I were off.

.-.

It took us about a week to get to the place. When we arrived at Dimhollow Crypt, which is very creepy, might I add, a dragon decided to fly in and attack us.

"Well, this is a wonderful way to start off," Eileen said dryly when the beast had been killed. I snorted.

"Yes, well, nonetheless, I'm glad we're going to be fighting our way through a cave of vampires instead of a cave of dragons," I replied.

And with that, we entered the cave. Shortly after, of course, we found poor Tolan's dead body.

Now let me tell you something; there were more Frostbite spiders, Draugr and skeletons than actual vampires, which is a shame, because Eileen had arachnophobia and I was terrified of the Draugr. Yeah, that could've gone a lot better.

Towards the end of the initial cave was a vampire fighting a giant Frostbite spider. My sister and I stayed in the shadows to let the spider kill the vampire, and then I had to deal with the spider myself because Eileen was too scared. From there, we proceeded through the door.

There were too many enemies in the chamber, that was obvious enough. I counted maybe two vampires, a thrall or two and what looked to be a skeleton that one of the vampires had resurrected. So I picked them off from the shadows with my bow while Eileen got her dragonbone sword and shield out and took them head-on.

After that, we proceeded onto a large, circular platform with a pedestal in the center, and a button on said pedestal.

"You're pressing the button," Eileen said. I raised an eyebrow.

"Alrighty, then."

If there's one thing that I learned, it's this: Don't press buttons on pedestals in vampire lairs. Because a large spike came up after I pressed the button and shot through the palm of my hand. Naturally, I cried out in pain and Eileen yelled in shock. A good thing we're both trained in Restoration magic, or my hand would still have a hole in it.

But then there was this puzzle that involved the pushing of braziers lit by purple fire. It was easy enough to figure out, so the entire thing took about two minutes, although it was exceedingly painful to push the braziers with my right hand. Damned rigged button. While the wound had healed, it must've been poisoned, because my hand hurt like Oblivion if I tried to use it. I drank a potion, but it took awhile for the effects to take...Effect.

Anyway, after we finished the puzzle, a sarcophagus rose up from where the stupid pedestal was, and a vampire was in it.

She was a Nord, like Eileen and me. Her hair, like mine, was a dark black, although her skin was very pale and her eyes were a glowing red. Hah! I wasn't sure which of us two was more miscolored.

But her facial features were strange. Old. Not old as in aged. Old as in nobody looked like that anymore. She looked like someone from the ancient times. For a Nord, her jaw wasn't quite as square, and her cheekbones were higher, and her nose was...Different.

"Where...Who are you?" she asked, rubbing her head.

"My name is Sonja, and this is my sister, Eileen," I answered. There was a long pause.

"That's...Weird. I expected someone...Different. Someone like me," she said. I shook my head.

"Well, Eileen's _similar_ to you, I suppose. How long have you been in there?"

She frowned. "That's a good question. Who's the High King?"

Eileen and I glanced at each other. My sister laughed nervously.

"That's...Actually a matter up for debate," she said. The woman rolled her eyes.

"Ah. A civil conflict. Good to know the world hasn't gotten boring since I've been gone. Who's involved?" she asked.

"Well, the Stormcloak rebels support Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Windhelm, and the Empire supports Jarl Elisif of Solitude," Eileen said thoughtfully. "Although now that I think about it, not many rebels actually support Stormcloak himself. Just the cause."

"...Empire? What empire?" the woman asked, ignoring Eileen's comment. I raised an eyebrow.

"The...Empire. From Cyrodiil," I said, unable to think of an explanation.

"Cyrodiil is the seat of an empire? What year is it?"

"Year two-hundred and two of the Fourth Era."

"Well...That doesn't really help..."

"Enough of this!" Eileen shouted, exasperated. "What's your name?"

"Serana," the ancient vampire replied.

"Serana? Alright, then. I'll say it again; I'm Sonja, and this is Eileen," I said. It was then that I noticed something. "...Is that an Elder Scroll on your back?"

"Yes, it is, and it's mine," she snapped. Eileen and I flinched, and she sighed. "Sorry. I just...I don't know who to trust right now. It's not that I don't trust...Never mind. Listen, can you take me to my family? They live in a castle on an island to the north. If you have a map, I can show you." I handed her my map, and she marked it with a piece of charcoal.

"A castle on an island to the north? Hm. Dawnstar isn't far from here. We could take a boat from there and get to this castle," Eileen thought out loud.

"Alright, then. Let's get out of this crypt," I said, agreeing.

So there were two of these gargoyle things that attacked us as soon as we stepped off the platform. We were all more than capable of fighting them, though, so we killed them and moved on. And then at the end there was a large room full of Draugr and skeletons. Eileen changed to her Beast Form to handle them.

And there was what I call a 'Word Wall' in this large room, and on it, a Word of Power that I'd never seen before. Drain Vitality, it seemed, was the translation.

So the three of us then finally got out of the crypt, and proceeded to Dawnstar.


	3. Ch 3 - Gunmar

_**I love cats.**_

_**Thanks to anyone who's reading/reviewing.**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Sonja and Eileen—**_

* * *

**Sonja's POV**

.-.

The good thing about being a Nord: I have a comfortable resistance to cold weather.

The bad thing about Eileen being born in the desert and Serana just being...Serana: they both complained about the cold for the entire hour-long walk to Dawnstar.

Honestly, I don't know how they're Nords if they can't stand a little cold. It wasn't even snowing (which is probably why it only took an hour to get there).

Anyway, when we got to Dawnstar, the ship there refused to take us. The captain said that he had "more important things to do." Sheesh, you'd think he'd show me a little gratitude for finding the fine-cut Void salts that he'd lost.

We were about to give up when we noticed a small boat docked at the edge of town.

"Excuse me, but would you mind taking us to a small island off to the west?" Eileen asked the man sitting in the boat, eating a loaf of bread.

"I'm not sure where exactly you're talking about," he replied. I sighed and showed him my map.

"It's got a big castle on it...?" I elaborated. He frowned.

"There's no way in Oblivion I'm going there. That island is cursed!" he exclaimed. I raised an eyebrow and tossed him a coin purse.

"How 'bout now?"

He examined the bag, eyes widening when he realized that it contained five-hundred Septims.

"Hmph...Alright," he said. "Let me know when you're ready to leave."

.-.

If there's one thing that I learned about Serana from this, it's that her castle is damn _creepy._

It was large. Very, very large. You probably could've stuffed ten of Alduin in there and there'd still be room to walk. And it was made of a very dark stone. Or maybe that was just age; from its appearance, it was clearly ancient. Strange birds—they appeared to be skeletal—circled around the towers. Speaking of towers, there was a lone watchtower near the beach, probably for extra security. From what, I didn't want to know.

There was a short, stone bridge lined with gargoyles—I half expected them to come to life—before the doors. Oh, gods, the doors. The doors were _huge,_ and made of wood. From the castle's age, I was surprised that the wood wasn't rotting or decayed.

Before we entered, the vampire stopped me.

"Hey, listen..." she began. "When we get inside...I want you to let me do the talking. There're some people in there...That I'd rather not see right now."

"Are you alright?" I asked, concerned.

"I'm fine. Thanks for asking. When everything in the castle is done, I think I'm going to go on my own for awhile, okay?"

I nodded, but then thought of something. "You mentioned people that you didn't want to see?" She winced.

"Yeah. My father and I...Don't exactly get along," she replied. "Ugh, saying it out loud makes it sound so...Typical. 'Little girl who doesn't get along with her father.' Read _that_ story a hundred times."

Eileen and I snorted before all three of us headed inside the large, stone castle.

Inside, there was a tall Altmer vampire, and I mean _tall._ This guy was about _my_ height, maybe even a little taller.

"Halt! How dare you trespass here—Wait...Serana? Is it truly you?" he asked, squinting and looking at her. Then his irritated face transformed into one of delight. He turned to the balcony overlooking the...Dining room. There were two long tables, and at the end was another long table—but this one was in a different position—and a throne. "Lord Harkon! Everyone! Serana has returned!"

There were whispers and murmurs throughout the room.

"Serana?"

"She's returned?"

"She has the Scroll, doesn't she?"

"I guess I'm expected," I heard her say to Eileen, who shrugged in reply. All three of us descended down the stairs to the dining hall, which, rather disturbingly, had human skeletons on the plates.

An average-heighted Nord vampire rose from his throne and walked partially down to stand at the end of the two tables. His hair—and facial hair—was a dark black, and his skin, like all vampires, was pale.

"Serana, my daughter, it's been so many years!" he exclaimed with joy. "I trust you have the Scroll?"

Serana sneered. "After all these years, that's the _first_ thing you ask me? Yes, I have the Scroll," she snapped. The man flinched.

"Of course, I _am_ delighted to see you, daughter," he amended. "In fact, if your traitor mother were here, I'd let her see this reunion herself before putting her head on a pike."

...And then he finally took notice of Eileen and me. "And who are these two that you have brought here?"

"These are my friends. They saved me," she replied. The Nord turned to me, probably because I was taller.

"Ah. So you two are the ones who freed my daughter. What are your names?" he asked. I huffed.

"You, first."

"Of course. My name is Harkon, and you are?"

I raised my chin slightly. "My name is Sonja Golden-Hilt, and this is my younger sister, Eileen Desert-Born." Harkon nodded.

"Sonja and Eileen. Well, I'm sure you expect a reward for bringing my daughter here safely. There is only one prize worthy of the return of Serana _and_ the Scroll. Accept my gift and become one of us," he said.

"And if I refuse?" I asked at the same time Eileen said, "But I'm a werewolf."

"Yes, I can smell it on you. If you become a vampire, it will cleanse you of your filth. And as for you, Sonja, perhaps you still need convincing."

I turned to Serana. "What is he—"

There was a loud sound, and suddenly Harkon transformed. His skin turned even paler than it was before, now becoming a light green-blue shade, and his features distorted into those of a monster. His back sprouted wings and be lifted himself off the ground, but not with the wings, with magic.

"_Behold_ the _power!"_ he thundered. _"This_ is what I offer you!"

Eileen was cowering behind me, and I admit that I, myself, was rather...Shaky, but I lifted my chin again. "Lord Harkon, we refuse your offer."

His face contorted with rage, but surprisingly, he didn't attack. "Then you are prey, like all mortals. I hereby banish you from this castle."

Someone must've cast a spell or hit me in the head or something, because at that moment, everything turned black.

.-.

I awoke near a small rowboat at the edge of the island.

"Eileen...Eileen, are you here?" I asked fearfully.

"Right here, Sonja," she replied. "C'mon. Let's get off this island."

.-.

It took us a week to get back to Fort Dawnguard.

From the island, we'd sailed to the shoreline, and from there, we walked to Dawnstar. Thankfully, the Khajiit caravan was in town, and so was my old friend, Kharjo, and they were on their way to Windhelm, so we traveled with them. From Windhelm, we took a carriage to Riften, and from there we walked to Fort Dawnguard.

Unfortunately, however, as we approached the fortress, we saw that it was under attack by vampires. Isran, Agmaer, Celann, Durak and some other members that I hadn't met were already fighting them, so Eileen and I quickly pulled our weapons out and joined the fight.

When they were dealt with, Isran turned to me and said tiredly, "Please tell me you have some _good_ news."

I shook my head. "We found a vampire at Dimhollow, and...Well, long story short, the vampires have an Elder Scroll."

"An Elder Scroll?!" he spat back. "You let them walk away with an _Elder Scroll?!"_

"Hey, it was us two against an entire castle full of them and their Death Hounds!" Eileen yelled. "There was no _way_ we would've been able to handle them, even _if_ Sonja's the Dragonborn!" I could see her face turning red with irritation and indignation.

Isran just sighed. "Then we're going to need more people," he stated simply. "Our numbers are too few. We're being stretched too thin."

"Alright. Who d'you have in mind?" I asked.

"A Nord and a Breton, both...Former associates of mine. The Nord's name is Gunmar, and the last I heard of him, he was searching for ways to tame wild animals. The Breton woman, Sorine Jurard, is out in the Reach studying Dwemer machinery, as far as I know. They may not want to come at first. We're...At odds. But explain the situation, and they'll change their minds."

"What do they look like?" Eileen asked.

"Gunmar's got muscle. His hair's long and red, and if I remember correctly, he's got a lot of facial hair. Sorine's hair was short and brown, last time I saw her, and she's fairly tall for a Breton."

I nodded. "Eileen, you take Gunmar, and I'll look for Sorine," I said before turning back to Isran. "We'll meet up back here when we've found them."

.-.

**Eileen's POV**

.-.

I asked around Riften if they'd seen a red-haired Nord hunter around, but the only redheaded Nord with facial hair that I found was a man named Brynjolf. So I took a carriage to Falkreath, and asked around there. The innkeeper, Valga, seemed to recognize the name.

"Ah, Gunmar. Said he was on his way to Bonechill Passage. Tell him I said hello, if you see him," she told me. I handed her a few Septims in thanks and headed up the mountains.

Sonja and I had been there before, so I knew where it was. It was a small cave that led to Ancient's Ascent, a dragon's lair. Let me tell you, by the Nine, it is _freezing_ on that mountaintop.

Anyway, it wasn't hard to spot him, Gunmar. He was crouched right in front of the cave, back turned to me, wearing the armor of the Dawnguard. Ironic, given he and Isran were supposedly at odds.

"Excuse me," I said. He turned around.

Well, Isran was right. He had muscle. A lot of it. And his hair, like mine, was indeed red. Long, too. A side of it was braided. Facial hair, just like Isran had said. His nose was large, but not unattractive, and his eyes were a lovely shade of green. He appeared to be around thirty, maybe.

"...Can I help you?"

Oh. Was I staring? I was staring, wasn't I? Damn, that's embarrassing. Well. His voice was smooth, and had some sort of accent. I liked it.

He clapped loudly, making me flinch.

"Can I help you?" he repeated.

"O-oh! I'm s-sorry!" I stammered. "I, uh...Erm...Oh! R-right. I'm with the Dawnguard. Isran sent me. He said he needs you at the fort."

The handsome—well, in my eyes, anyway—Nord shook his head. "Sorry, but I made it clear to Isran years ago that—"

"The vampires have an Elder Scroll!" I blurted out.

Gunmar stopped.

"An Elder Scroll? You're sure?" he asked carefully. I nodded. "Well, that...Changes things. But the bear in here has been killing the citizens of Falkreath. I can't just leave it."

I shrugged. "Wait here, then," I said, and before he could object, I entered the cave.

The bear was pretty easy to dispatch, but then again, my sword and shield were made from a dragon's bones.

When the animal had been killed, I backtracked and went back to Gunmar.

"Okay. It's dead," I said simply. He just looked at me in shock.

"By the Eight! I've been tracking that bear for two weeks, and you just killed it like it was nothing at all!" he exclaimed. I shrugged as we both started down the mountain.

"My sister always said to me while hunting: 'Don't bother with tracking; just kill the damn thing!'" was my reply. Gunmar raised an eyebrow.

"Ah, a sister? What's her name?...Actually, come to think of it, what's _your_ name?"

...Oh. Great. As soon as I said the name 'Golden-Hilt,' he would instantly forget about me. That was the case with about half the people I met.

"Yeah," I said glumly. "I'm Eileen Desert-Born. My sister is the ever-so-famous Sonja Golden-Hilt, Dragonborn of legend."

What the Nord did next surprised me; he held out his hand and said, "Pleased to meet you, Eileen. You probably already know this, but my name's Gunmar."

I blinked. "O-oh. Okay. Well, then. Please to meet you, too," I replied, and shook his hand.

.-.

Gunmar knew of a pass through the Jerall Mountains from Falkreath straight to the Rift. It was, like most places in Skyrim, ridiculously cold, though, and the snow was constant, so progress through the mountains was slow.

We would walk and hunt for food during the day, and at night, we'd set up a camp—I'd use Flames to start us a fire—and we'd eat dinner. Once we were through the mountains, we moved much faster, thankfully.

I think the nicest part was talking. Gunmar was so easy to talk to, and we always talked unless we were hunting or sleeping, and we talked about so many things. What, specifically, you ask? Well, Gunmar would tell me stories about hunting trips he'd had, and sometimes he told me some of Skyrim's old legends. In turn, I'd tell him some of _my_ adventures, and maybe I'd throw in a couple adventures that I'd had with Sonja.

But the surprising thing was, he never asked me to tell him a tale about the great Dragonborn. He never asked me to tell him about how we found the Elder Scroll in the great underground Dwarven city of Blackreach—and when he did, he asked about Blackreach, not the Scroll or Sonja.

It was nice, being able to escape being Sonja's sister. She wasn't a bad sister or anything. In fact, she was always the one who'd stand up for me if I was being picked on, and I'd do the same for her. It just got so angering whenever someone would hear my name and their thoughts would instantly turn to _Sonja's_ name.

A week and a half after I found Gunmar, we were back at Fort Dawnguard, where Sonja and a Breton woman with short, brown hair—I'm assuming that was Sorine—were standing in front of the door, waiting for us.

"Eileen!" Sonja exclaimed, clapping me on the shoulder. "Meridia's Beacon, we were wondering when you'd get back. C'mon. Isran's inside."


	4. Ch 4 - Moth Priest

_**Hey. Hey, you. Have a chapter.**_

_**I always see Lydia as sort of a motherly-type person to a female Dragonborn. I ship her with a male Dragonborn, though.**_

_**And guys. This needs to be said: if you totally hate this story to pieces, that's fine, but I need feedback so I know how to improve my writing. Thanks.**_

_**I'm not saying that it's okay to flame. I'm saying that I'd like for someone to point out what needs improvement in this story so I can...Improve, and hopefully more people will like it.**_

_**Disclaimer: I only own Sonja and Eileen.**_

* * *

_**Sonja's POV**_

.-.

All four of us—Sorine, Gunmar, Eileen and myself—walked into the fortress.

...To be blinded by a ridiculously bright light.

The leader of the Dawnguard stood on the balcony that overlooked the main room, shining a beam of sunlight at us.

"_Isran!_ Turn that thing _off!"_ Sorine yelled in exasperation.

"Is this really necessary?" Gunmar added.

"_...Ow,"_ Eileen said flatly.

"I'm just making sure that none of you are one of _them,"_ the dark-skinned Redguard replied and shut the light off.

"I think you've permanently damaged my vision," I grumbled, blinking a few times. Of course, if Isran heard this, he ignored me.

"I'm sure our newest recruits have filled you in on the situation at hand. The vampires have an Elder Scroll. We don't yet know what they plan on doing with it, but we can't afford to waste time. Gunmar, there's plenty of space here in the fort for you to start training your armored trolls. Sorine, there's a workshop for you to work on your Dwarven schematics. Sonja, Eileen, you two come up here."

With that, the four of us dispersed to...Well, wherever we were supposed to go.

Eileen followed me up the spiral staircase to the balcony. From there, both of us followed Isran to...Oh, gross. A torture room. I always hated those—So cruel, not to mention they're a complete eyesore.

But naturally, it was the person standing in the torture room that caught our attention.

"Serana?" Eileen asked in surprise. "What're you doing here?" She laughed nervously.

"Heh...I guess you didn't expect to see me again..." she said.

"This vampire showed up while you were away. I'm guessing it's the one you found in Dimhollow Crypt," Isran said to me. I frowned.

"_She_ is not an _it," _I told him. He ignored me.

"It says it's got something really important to say to you. So, let's hear it."

I turned to the vampire. "Well?"

She sighed. "It's...Well, it's about me. And the Elder Scroll that I was buried with."

"What about you?"

"The reason I was down there...Well, and why I had an Elder Scroll. It all comes down to my father.

"I'm guessing you've figured this out already, but my father isn't exactly a good person—even by vampire standards! But it wasn't always like that. There was...a turn. He stumbled into this obscure prophecy and just kind of lost himself in it."

"What sort of prophecy?" Eileen asked.

"It's pointless and vague, like all prophecies. But the part that caught his attention, the part he latched on to, said that vampires would no longer need to fear the sun. That's what he wants: to control the sun, have vampires to control the world.

"My mother and I really _didn't_ want a war with all of Tamriel, so we tried to stop him, hence me being sealed away with the Elder Scroll."

I snorted and shook my head. "You took a huge risk in coming here," I said.

"I did. But something about you makes me think I can trust you. I hope I'm not wrong," she replied with a shrug. I sighed.

"No, you're right. We need to convince the others that you're on our side." She grinned at this.

"Well, let's move, then. I'm nothing if not persuasive."

I turned to Isran and opened my mouth to speak, but he cut me off. "Alright, you've heard what it has to say. Now tell me, is there any reason why I shouldn't kill this...This _fiend_ where it stands?"

"Because we're going to need her help," Eileen replied simply.

"Why, because of that stupid story about a prophecy? About some vampire trying to put the son out? Do you actually _believe_ any of that?"

I rolled my eyes. "Well, first of all, she wouldn't take a risk and come here like this if it weren't important. Secondly, Alduin, the World Eater, was flying around this gods-damned province not even an entire year ago! He's gone, now, of course—I defeated him—but all the dragons that he brought back with him are still alive and terrorizing villages when people insisted that they were just mere _legends._ I've seen plenty of things that are just as outlandish as this," I snapped. Isran scowled.

"It can stay for now, but if it so much as lays a finger on anyone here, I'm holding you responsible. Understood?" He turned to Serana. "You hear me? Don't feel like a guest, because you're not. You're a resource. An asset. In the meantime, don't make me regret my sudden outburst of tolerance and generosity, because if you do, your friends, here, are going to pay for it."

"Thank you for your _kindness._ I'll remember it the next time I'm feeling hungry," the vampire countered. She then turned back to me. "So...In case you didn't notice the giant thing on my back, I have the Scroll with me. Whatever it says, hopefully it has something that can help us stop my father. But, of course, none of us can read it." Eileen frowned.

"Who can, then?" she asked.

"Well, the Moth Priests are the only ones I've heard of that can do it. They spend years preparing before they start reading, though. Not that it helps us anyway, because they're all half a continent away, in Cyrodiil," she replied with a sigh.

"Some Imperial scholar arrived in Skyrim a few days ago. I was staking out the road when I saw him pass by. Maybe that's your moth priest," Isran threw in. I glanced at him, surprised that there was no insult, no belittling remark.

"Do you know where he's staying, now?" I asked.

"No, and I'm not going to waste men finding out. We're fighting a war against vampires, if you haven't noticed already, and I intend to win it," he said sharply. "You want to find him, try talking to anyone who would meet a traveler. Carriage drivers or innkeepers, perhaps, but you're on your own."

Serana sighed—yet again. "Any idea how you're going to find a Moth Priest? Skyrim's...Well, it's a pretty big place...Wait. The College of Winterhold, maybe? Back before I...Er...You know...It was the first place I'd go for any historical or magical kind of problem. The wizards know all kinds of things that normal people shouldn't know about. Actually, now that I think about it...I'm going to come along with you. I've been really wanting to get out and explore a bit," she said thoughtfully. I shrugged.

"Fine by me," I replied. "Eileen?"

"I have no problems with it."

I nodded. "Well, alright, then. I guess you're coming with us, Serana."

.-.

We decided to split up; Serana and I would ask the innkeepers and carriage drivers, and Eileen would head for the College of Winterhold. She'd said that the librarian, an Orc named Urag gro-Shub, might know something. I'd talked to him before, when I was still fighting a war against Alduin; I had to ask about Elder Scrolls, which eventually led to me scaling Blackreach. He wasn't a particularly pleasant man, but he wasn't very _un_pleasant, either.

Speaking of which, my younger sister said that she had to get to the College, anyway, to tell them about what had happened at Mzulft.

So, with that, the three of us all walked to Riften together, but after that, Serana and I bought two horses and rode off to Ivarstead while Eileen took a carriage to Winterhold. She asked the driver if he'd seen a Moth Priest, recently, but he'd said no, so...

.-.

We spent the next three or four weeks riding around Skyrim asking for a Moth Priest. Without any word from Eileen, I was starting to get worried, but I knew that she could take care of herself.

And we finally _did_ make progress, at Dragon Bridge. A guard told me'n Serana that one was riding around south, so south of Dragon Bridge is where we headed.

.-.

_**Eileen's POV**_

.-.

How could things get so tangled up so fast? In two short weeks, I'd gone from being a mere apprentice to becoming the Arch-Mage of the College of Winterhold.

Let's start from the beginning.

When I'd arrived back at the College, Ancano had taken over the Eye of Magnus. In an attempt to stop him, the previous Arch-Mage, Savos Aren, was killed. Then I had to save the town from strange magic anomalies that Ancano had somehow spawned—I suspected the Eye helped him summoned them—and upon returning to the College, Mirabelle gave me some magical items and told me to go to Labyrinthian.

And then when I returned with the Staff of Magnus after clearing the ruin (someone failed to mention a skeletal dragon and a Dragon Priest to me), Tolfdir had informed me that Mirabelle had passed trying to save everyone from Ancano. This, of course, threw me into a rage—Mirabelle was a dear friend of mine, you see—and I successfully attacked and killed Ancano. And then Tolfdir named me Arch-Mage, as both Savos Aren and Mirabelle Ervine had perished, and Tolfdir became the new Master Wizard.

And then the two mages from the Psijic Order that I'd become acquainted with, Quaranir and Nerien, appeared and took the Eye of Magnus away to somewhere that they said was safe. I was rather sad at their departure; they were two of the four Altmer that I'd met that _weren't_ arrogant and self-centered.

All of that in two weeks. In two weeks, I gained incredible knowledge, experience and power. In two weeks, one of my friends had died, and two more left.

So after all of these events occurred, I did _not_ break down and cry like you might expect someone to. Instead, I headed for Fort Dawnguard, where Gunmar and Sorine sent me on countless errands that I spent four _more_ weeks doing. Gunmar's consisted of mostly killing some vampire that was disguised as a citizen or hiding in a cave, while Sorine's were all 'get this schematic and I'll teach you how to make a crossbow.' I did get to know Sorine and Gunmar better in the time that I _wasn't_ running around Skyrim. It was nice, especially talking to Gunmar. He always had something interesting to tell me.

Although I did get a job that almost got me killed. Thank the gods Agmaer was with me.

So I walked into Sorine and Gunmar's workshop area with the enhanced Dwarven crossbow schematic that Sorine asked for, and I overheard the two of them discussing something. When I asked Sorine what they were talking about, she mentioned someone named Florentius Baenius and that he was an old acquaintance of Isran. I asked Isran about it and he directed me to Ruunvald, an old ruin, so I decided to take Agmaer with me to recruit this Florentius man.

Of course, Ruunvald wouldn't have had any enemies, but it had been taken over by vampires, so the Vigilants of Stendarr that were excavating there had all been turned hostile. I felt bad about having to kill them and their dogs, as did Agmaer, but it was necessary.

So we found Florentius, whom neither Sorine nor Gunmar told me was crazy (he believed that Arkay was talking to him!), and took him back to Fort Dawnguard.

And then the three of us traveled back to Fort Dawnguard just in time to meet up with Sonja, Serana and apparently the Moth Priest that they had been searching for, Dexion Evicus.

"So...Who's that you got with you?" Sonja asked as we were standing awkwardly outside the entrance to Dayspring Canyon.

"This is Florentius Baenius. He's a priest of Arkay," Agmaer replied.

"Who's that you got with _you?"_ I asked. Serana was the one who answered.

"This is Dexion Evicus. He's a Moth Priest," she told me.

"Okay," I said.

"Okay, indeed," Sonja agreed.

"Yes."

"Quite."

"This is awkward."

"Very much so."

"How about we get to the fortress, now?" Agmaer cut in. All of us agreed.

.-.

_**Sonja's POV**_

.-.

Everyone watched, fascinated (even Isran!), as Dexion began to read the Elder Scroll aloud.

"I see a vision before me, an image of a great bow. I know this weapon! It is Auriel's Bow! Now a voice whispers, saying "Among the night's children, a dread lord will rise." In an age of strife, when dragons return to the realm of men, darkness will mingle with light and the night and day will be as one.

"The voice fades and the words begin to shimmer and distort. But wait, there is more here. The secret of the bow's power is written elsewhere. I think there is more to the prophecy, recorded in other scrolls. Yes, I see them now... One contains the ancient secrets of the dragons, and the other speaks of the potency of ancient blood.

"My vision darkens, and I see no more. To know the complete prophecy, we must have the other two scrolls.

"I...I need to rest." Sorine guided Dexion to a bench as Serana and I thought about this.

"'In an age of strife, when dragons return to the realm of men' refers to the Scroll that foretold Alduin's return. I have that Scroll in my house, Breezehome. Lydia is looking after it," I said. Serana nodded.

"And the other Scroll is most likely the one that my mother took with her when she hid away from my father," she told me. "But...Nobody can find her."

"We'll worry about that later," I said optimistically. "For now, we should get to Breezehome and get the Scroll from Lydia." She seemed to agree with this.

"Hey, if it's alright with you, I'll stay back here at the fort," Eileen cut in. I shrugged.

"Fine by me. Be careful, little sister. C'mon, Serana, let's go to Whiterun."

.-.

I strode into Breezehome for the first time in a month or two. "Lydia!" I called. I heard the Nord woman rush down the stairs to greet me.

"My Thane! You're back!...And you brought company! I'll prepare a meal—You really should take my advice and hire a chef, I don't have the time for this—I'm just a Housecarl—" she exclaimed, running around frantically. I laughed, shaking my head.

"Lydia, this is Serana, a friend of mine. Don't freak out, but she's a vampire. Not an evil one, though. Serana, this is Lydia, one of my Housecarls and friends," I introduced. Lydia stopped rushing around to shake Serana's hand before returning to the cooking spit to...Well...Cook.

"Nice to meet you," Lydia greeted. Serana nodded.

"Likewise."

"Alright, I'm going to go grab the Scroll. I'll be right back," I called as I walked up the stairs to my bedroom. I heard Serana and Lydia chatting downstairs. Smiling and shaking my head, I pulled out the three keys that locked the chest that stored the Elder Scroll that I kept under my bed and unlocked it. When I opened the chest, my eyes widened in alarm.

"Lydia...Did you move the Scroll?" I called.

"No. Why?" I heard her reply.

Then I realized.

"Get Commander Caius—the Elder Scroll's been stolen!"


	5. Ch 5 - Kjell

_**Gaaaaaasp—The Scroll's been stolen—Wow, I'm so original—**_

_**A lot of carriage riding in this story, I just realized.**_

_**Alrighty. Have a chapter.**_

_**Disclaimer: I only own Sonja and Eileen...**_

* * *

_**Sonja's POV**_

.-.

"_How in the name of Oblivion could anyone steal an Elder Scroll from a chest that has three different locks?!"_ I yelled in frustration. Not to mention the chest in question was under a secret panel under my bed that only a few people knew the existence of and/or how to open the secret panel—

"I—I don't know, my Thane—I check the chest every two days—It was there yesterday, I swear!" Lydia stammered. I took a few deep breaths and pressed two fingers to my temple.

"Then it was stolen some time today or late at night yesterday," I muttered through gritted teeth. Then I sighed. "Okay, as far as I know, Adrianne Avenicci, Vilkas of the Companions, Jarl Balgruuf the Greater and I are the only ones who were given keys to the chest. Adrianne is the one who forged the locks, and they're all unique; supposedly unpickable. That means that someone either stole the keys from Adrianne, Vilkas, Jarl Balgruuf, or myself, or either of the three of them stole the Scroll themselves. But I'd trust all of them with my life, so that possibility is ruled out."

Serana nodded and grabbed for a piece of paper and charcoal to write this down.

"I-I'm going to go get them...And Commander Caius. Yeah. I'll be right back," Lydia said shakily, and hurried off. I started pacing.

"Who would've done this? Who would've been _able_ to do this? Divines..."

"Well, Sonja, from the few months that I've been traveling with you, I know that you like to take things that aren't exactly yours," Serana said dryly. "So it shouldn't be that hard to think like a thief...Thief." I huffed.

"Quiet, you."

I stood there thinking for a good ten minutes, before Lydia came back with Adrianne, Balgruuf, Vilkas and Commander Caius.

"What's this about the Elder Scroll being stolen?" the Jarl asked as soon as he stepped in the doorway.

"It's gone. Not here. None of us can find it," I replied. My sentences were getting shorter out of nervousness—a habit that I'd picked up from living in Elsweyr with the Khajiit. An old friend of mine did it all the time. Commander Caius shook his head.

"I don't understand...Guards are always informed when you leave Whiterun, so they take extra care when they're posted near your house at night. There are always two of them within sight range; it would've been near impossible to slip past them," he said thoughtfully.

"Invisibility potion or spell, maybe?" Serana suggested. I was shaking from frustration.

"Doesn't matter how. The Scroll is gone. We need to find who took it," I almost yelled. Vilkas sighed and rubbed my shoulder.

"And we will," he assured me. Adrianne nodded.

"If we work hard enough, we should be able to catch the thief, hopefully before they get the Scroll out of Skyrim," she agreed. Balgruuf nodded.

"Alright. Adrianne, Vilkas, you two conduct an investigation here in Whiterun. Caius, take Sonja and Lydia to the Barracks. Direct them to anyone that you suspect would buy or sell stolen property," he ordered. "Well? What are you all standing around for? An Elder Scroll has been stolen! Let's move!"

.-.

Rather amusingly, the first person that Caius told Lydia, Serana and me about was my uncle. Ah, eccentric Uncle Kjell the master thief. He lived in Markarth.

The rest were all down in Riften, likely to be Thieves Guild, and there were a couple scattered across Skyrim.

Our plan that the four of us formed was for Caius to continue investigating in Whiterun, Lydia to search Riften, and Serana and me to head for Markarth.

So that's what we did. In all honestly, I couldn't wait to see my uncle again. He and Eileen were at odds (she disapproves of crime of any sort—especially thievery and murder), but he was as close with me as I was with my mother. And my mother and I were quite close. I would always be delighted when he visited our family in Elsweyr, and when Eileen and I came to Skyrim, I was always visiting. He was the one that trained me in sneaking, stealing and speech.

Don't give me that look. Dragonborns can be thieves.

Anyway, Serana and I decided to take a carriage to Markarth to save time. Thankfully, the diver knew what he was doing and he had a good horse, so it only took a few days as opposed to the week that it normally took.

When we arrived, we went straight to Vlindrel Hall; I'd given the place to my uncle when I became the Thane of Markarth.

I swung the door open dramatically, making a rather loud entrance. "Uncle Kjell!" I called. I heard laughter from the main hall as a husky came running up to me. I smiled and knelt down, stroking the animal's head. "Well, hey, there," I said gently.

"I got a dog," a voice in front of me said with a laugh. "Named her Sonja!" My head swung up and a huge grin appeared on my face.

"Uncle Kjell!" I exclaimed, hugging the man. His brown hair was short and curly, like he always kept it; his eyes were a light green. His features were rather sharp for a Nordic man; high cheekbones, a somewhat angular face, and his nose was quite long, but his chin was rounded and his jaw squared, like a normal Nord. It made him look odd, but he'd always liked his face. Said it made him look more interesting.

He laughed. "Sonja! What brings you here this time, niece?" The dog jumped up and barked. "No, not you! The o_ther_ Sonja!"

Serana was giving us this weird stare. "Uh...Hi, there," she said awkwardly.

"Oh! Yeah. This is my friend, Serana," I introduced. "She's a vampire. Not an evil one, though. Serana, this is my uncle, Kjell."

Kjell grinned and held out a hand. "Hey, there, Serana. You can call me Kjell." Serana nodded and took it.

"Hi."

After that awkward introduction/reunion, my uncle led us to the main hall of the stone building, where we all sat down at a table.

"So, what brings you here _this_ time, Sonja?" Kjell asked. I sighed.

"You remember that Elder Scroll that I recovered from Blackreach?" I began. He nodded. "Someone stole it."

His eyebrows snapped together. "Isn't that under three locks and keys _and_ high security from the guards?" he asked in surprise. He was one of the few people that I'd informed about the secret panel in my house.

"Yes. Er, well, it was. There were only three people that had the keys besides me, and I trust all of them, so someone must've stolen the keys from one of them. We came here to ask if you know anyone who would buy or sell a stolen Elder Scroll," I explained. He tapped his chin in thought.

"Well, it probably wasn't the Thieves Guild. Word would've spread around that someone managed to snag an Elder Scroll from the Dragonborn's house. Maybe a hired professional."

"Word would've spread—You're with the Thieves Guild?" I asked in surprise. He grinned.

"I have been for twenty years, now. Maybe you should join up! They could use a thief of your aptitude. But back to the matter at hand, it was probably someone higher up than the Thieves Guild. As good as they are, I don't think they're so good that they can pick three unique locks that require three equally unique keys," he replied. I nodded.

"Hm. I see..."

"As for someone who'd buy or sell it, well...There're plenty of fences across Skyrim, though only a few of them are stupid—and skilled—enough to smuggle the Dragonborn's stolen Elder Scroll out. I'll write down a list for you," he continued.

"Thank you, Uncle," I said with a smile, which he returned.

"Of course, niece. So, tell me, how's Eileen doing?" Kjell asked. I shrugged.

"Well, she's joined up with the Stormcloak Rebellion...Oh, and she's now with the College of Winterhold...We're both with the Dawnguard...I think that's it," I replied. He whistled.

"Hah! Our family is bound to do great things, eh?"

I chuckled, then suddenly got an idea. "Ah! Perhaps I should ask our ancestors themselves for advice!" I exclaimed. Both my uncle and Serana exchanged glances.

"And how, exactly, do you plan to do that?" Serana asked dryly. Still grinning, I rose from my seat at the table and backed up enough to give myself room.

"_HUN!"_ I Shouted, creating a portal from which a fair-haired spectral Nord stepped through.

"_For Sovng—_Wait...Descendant! If there isn't a battle, why did you summon me?" Gormlaith Golden-Hilt asked in confusion. I laughed sheepishly as Serana and Uncle Kjell gawked.

"Well, you see, an Elder Scroll has been stolen from me, and, well...I was wondering if you had any advice," I explained. My ancestress sighed.

"Felldir probably would have been the better choice, I'm afraid, although I believe I may be of some assistance. Think about _why_ someone would steal an Elder Scroll, and that will lead you to who and how," she said.

"Hm...Why...Thank you, Ancestress," I replied with a polite bow, thinking about what she'd told me. Gormlaith nodded and smiled.

"Keep up the heroic deeds, Descendant. It will only make it better when you're welcomed back to Sovngarde...Hopefully, of course, that will not be for a long while!" she said with a short laugh before vanishing. My mind flickered back to the events of Sovngarde, where I'd found out that Gormlaith and Hakon One-Eye were my ancestors, and smiled.

Uncle Kjell blinked.

"Well. I certainly did _not_ expect for that to happen today when I woke up this morning," he said simply. "I'm going to go sit down. Sonja!"

"What?"

"No, not you, the dog. It's time for her dinner. Sonja! Get over here!"

Serana and I both stared.

"So...That's your uncle?" At my nod, she snorted and said, "That's not surprising." It then occurred to both of us that it was evening.

"Hey, Uncle Kjell," I called.

"Yes?"

"D'you mind if Serana and I stay here for the night?"

"Of course! Although I only have one guest bedroom—_Ow!_ Sonja, be careful!"

I glanced over to the living room area, where the Nord man was feeding the dog.

"Why in _Oblivion_ did you name her Sonja?" I asked at the same time that Serana said, "That's fine, I'm sure Sonja doesn't mind sleeping in the living room."

I sent a sharp glare in Serana's direction as my uncle howled with laughter.

"Because a few days after I purchased her, I found out that she's just as stupid—and fierce—as my niece!" he exclaimed.

"I'd love to hear that story," I said dryly, raising an eyebrow. My uncle always had the strangest tales to tell. Still chuckling, Kjell walked over to the table and sat back down in his seat.

"It was about two or three days after I'd bought her, and she still didn't have a name. I'd been walking her around Markarth, and one of the guards approached me with this _huge_ combat dog. She told me that I was under arrest for stealing. I, of course, bribed her to leave me alone, but her dog was snarling at dear Sonja, here." He patted the dog on the head. "So she sat straight up, looked it in the eye, and barked real loud. Sent the thing running with its tail between its legs. Hah! Just like you with your Thu'um. So I immediately decided that her name should henceforth be Sonja. And then the guard came back to arrest me for causing inconvenience for her for having to chase the dog across Markarth! Hah! Another guard told her that she was being unreasonable, thankfully. But yes, that's why her name is Sonja."

I chuckled and stroked the grey-and-white dog's fur. "Hah! I like her," I said, grinning. He snorted.

"I figured you might."

.-.

_**Eileen's POV**_

.-.

"So...How do you suppose Sonja's faring?" I asked Gunmar, Florentius and Sorine one day.

I was mixing potions at the alchemy lab while Gunmar was at the forge, Sorine was at the grindstone sharpening a blade, and Florentius was enchanting a helmet at the enchanting table.

"I'm sure she's fine, if that's what you're asking," Gunmar replied. I smiled and shook my head.

"I suppose you're right, but I can't help but to worry," I said with a sigh. "I mean, the woman never writes to me!" I heard Gunmar chuckle.

"Don't worry, I have the same problem. My younger sister hasn't written to me in two years. I don't even know if she's still alive!"

"You've a sister?" I asked in surprise. He chuckled again, a pleasant sound.

"Yep. Rilla. She works at a farm here in the Rift. I'm pretty sure she's married and got a couple of kids, now," he said. "Pleasant woman, if not a bit hot-headed."

Florentius laughed. "That reminds me of my brother. Except he writes to me. A lot. It's quite annoying, actually...What's that? Ah. Arkay thinks he's lonely."

All of us stared for a few seconds before going back to work.

"You know, Eileen, I think Sonja would write to you more often if she had the time. From the days that I was traveling with her, I found out that she's quite the busy woman," Sorine said. "Always got some abstract errand to run, or some helpless villager to save." I snorted.

"Curse of being the Dragonborn, one would suppose," I said dryly. "Hey, do any of you have any jobs for me? I'm getting restless from staying here in this fortress for a week."

"Actually, I heard about a Dwemer schematic for an exploding Dwarven bolt of ice. If you could go grab that for me, that would be perfect," Sorine offered.

"Alright. Where do I have to go?"

.-.

_**Sonja's POV**_

.-.

Let me tell you, sleeping in one of Uncle Kjell's chairs in the living room is damn _uncomfortable._ But it beats the stone floors, I admit.

I awoke rather early in the morning to the smell of roasting cow. Turning to look into the main hall, I saw my uncle cooking at the spit. Of course. Everyone in my family was an amazing cook (except me). I couldn't even mix potions.

I groaned and got up to stretch before walking over to the main hall and sitting down at a chair and trying to rub the sleep from my eyes.

"Ah! You're awake," I heard the brown-haired man say. "Serana left to go shopping. I just started on breakfast. Should be ready in a half an hour or so...Maybe longer."

Shopping? An Elder Scroll was stolen from my house and Serana was _shopping?_...Somehow, that made way too much sense.

I shook my head, and my eyes wandered to my uncle's bookshelf. Ah, books. I loved reading. Quite the peaceful pastime. In fact, I always kept five or so books with me during my travels in case I had any extra time, like when riding a carriage.

A book caught my eye. Unlike all of the others, which had dark or plain covers and spines, this one had a white, ornate cover. I picked it up and examined it.

"The Aetherium Wars...Did you steal this?" I asked my uncle. "It looks kind of expensive." If my uncle wanted something that was expensive, he would steal it, more often than not.

"Oh, that? A friend of mine gave it to me. I think _he_ may have stolen it, though I'm not sure," he replied with a shrug. I smiled and shook my head, opening the book.

It talked about a magical material called Aetherium that the Dwemer once fought over. Evidently, there was an alliance between four of the cities, led by Arkngthamz, to study it, but the alliance didn't last long due to rivalries over the material.

"Hm..."

The name Arkngthamz sounded oddly familiar. Pulling out my map, I scanned the Reach; sure enough, there was a Dwemer ruin to the far southwest. _I'll have to investigate, when I find the time,_ I thought.

Suddenly, Serana burst through the doors.

"Sonja!...Not you, dog, the Nord! I was down in the market buying food for the trip, yeah? Well, I had a conversation with a guard while I was waiting in line, and he told me about someone that the other guards suspected to be a fence—Endon, I think his name was? So I decided to interrogate him, and, well, long story short, I found out that he smuggled an Elder Scroll two days ago! He even gave me the names of the person who sold it and the person who bought it!"


End file.
